Chicago Housing Authority

The Chicago Housing Authority, which oversees the city’s public housing, provides homes to more than 50,000 families and individuals, according to its website. It was established in 1937, funded through President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, to tackle slum conditions in the city, and its first developments were in all-white or mostly white neighborhoods. Elizabeth Wood, the CHA’s first director, fought in the late 1940s and early 1950s to build quality public housing that was racially integrated, though her efforts were stymied by a majority of the city’s aldermen. The agency has been beset by many troubles during its history. The CHA went into receivership in the 1960s after it was sued in a landmark case over allegations of racial discrimination. Its infrastructure deteriorated in the years after new federal limitations on rent were passed in 1969. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took over an embattled CHA in 1995 after several threats of federal takeover because of appalling conditions and substandard management dating to the 1980s. Chicago resumed control of the agency in 2000 and drafted an ambitious Plan for Transformation under the leadership of Mayor Richard M. Daley. Notorious high-rises — half-empty, decrepit buildings besieged by gang activity and a flourishing drug trade — were removed. But more than a decade later, the immense public housing overhaul is years behind schedule.

Related "Chicago Housing Authority" Articles

As Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues to struggle to sort out the ongoing problems at Chicago's public housing agency, he's replacing the board chairman with a former longtime ComEd executive.John T. Hooker will take over for outgoing Chairwoman Zaldwaynaka...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday named his third Chicago Housing Authority head in four years, choosing the former CEO of the Toronto Community Housing Corp.
Eugene "Gene" Jones Jr. has been named acting chief executive of the CHA, city officials...

Lauranita Taylor Dugas was born into an accomplished family and added her own mark as an advocate of early childhood education.
"She believed early childhood education was the key to success to support children and families," said Patsy Cooper,...

At $3.44 million, the Gary Housing Authority is receiving the largest capital funding grant in the state Thursday from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The grants are aimed at letting agencies to make large-scale improvements to...

Sue Brady was active in North Shore politics and served two terms as an Evanston alderman but will likely best be remembered for her work managing scattered-site public housing under a contract with the Chicago Housing Authority.
"She was a...

When the Chicago Housing Authority's Dante Harper Townhomes closed in 2007, it seemed to be another symbol of the continued decline of the once solidly working-class Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city's South Side.
"They were nice buildings...

For most of his adult life, Clifford McKnight has bounced from house to house sleeping on relatives' couches, sharing bedrooms and crowding into small apartments to have a place to rest his head, he said.
On Monday, he joined more than 80,000 Chicago...

In theory, low-income families with housing choice vouchers can rent homes in any community with better opportunities. But in practice, most of the 60,000 Illinois families with vouchers are not “moving up” to a place with access to critical basics:...

This letter is in response to “Struggles continue for many CHA voucher holders” (News, Sept. 25). The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law appreciates the Chicago Tribune’s story regarding where tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers,...

When Gralen Titus Bennett was issued a Chicago Housing Authority voucher that would pay most of his rent, he looked for apartments in Uptown, Lakeview and other neighborhoods near the lakefront.Bennett is rooted on the West Side, and though he said he...

Traveling around Chicago, like in other housing markets where it's pursuing projects, Gerding Edlen executives get asked a lot about its hometown of Portland, Ore., and whether the city's portrayal in the satirical TV comedy "Portlandia" is...

Just as city leaders and housing activists are about to introduce new legislation to bring more oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority, the agency on Tuesday revealed its own plan to improve transparency.
The CHA, which hopes to make progress in...

Chicago Housing Authority voucher recipients will no longer receive enough assistance to place them in the city's most luxurious high-rise buildings under a new policy, the agency announced Sunday.
The policy targets "super vouchers" that allow...

More kids attended Chicago Park District day camp this summer than in years past, the city reported today.There were 41,468 children ages six to 12 enrolled in the day camps in more than 230 parks across the city this summer, according to Mayor Rahm...

Streets near U.S. Cellular Field were closed Wednesday afternoon, along with the CTA Red Line stop at 35th Street, as emergency crews worked to contain the leak of about 500 gallons of muriatic acid from a truck, officials said.A Level II...

On the day a think-tank publicly released a report that says the Chicago Housing Authority has been socking away hundreds of millions of dollars instead of using it for housing for the poor, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has asked...

Chicago State University recently welcomed the Chicago Housing Authority to campus for a co-sponsored event entitled, Keep Rising to the Top: The 2014 Youth Summit.
The all-day conference was intended to engage 200+ youth ages 13-16, who live in...

A former top south suburban police official was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum five-year sentence in prison by an outraged federal judge who ruled he sexually assaulted a woman in police custody and called his misconduct “revolting.”
Anthony...

Lake County Housing Authority Opens Waiting List forPublic Housing Scattered Sites on April 1st, 2014
After being closed for over 4 years, LCHA has opened its waiting list for Public Housing scattered sites.Grayslake, IL, March 28, 2014: On April 1,...

When Mayor Rahm Emanuel put together his first budget in 2011, he sent a not-so-subtle message to city workers who owed City Hall for parking tickets, water bills and other fees and fines: Pay up or you could be suspended or fired.
"I am creating...